Tidbit: Scarlet

Scarlet, A.C. Gaughen. (Bloomsbury, 2/14/2012)

I kind of, sort of, virtually-know the author (we both worked on the Kids Heart Authors project a few years back), so that's what initially drew me to the book. But the premise should do it, too: Robin Hood's colleague Will Scarlet was actually a woman. This is perfect for fans of Katsa and Fire who need something to tide them over until Bitterblue's pub date. Scar totally fits into the emotionally-damaged-but-physically-tough-heroine mode, and I mean that in a good way. And best of all? This is straight-up historical fiction, with no fantasy bits thrown in.

(Review copy provided by publisher.)

Tidbit: Quiet

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain. (Crown, 1/24/2012)

I don't often get excited about business books, but I'm so glad a Random House sales rep pushed this one into my pile at NEIBA. Fellow introverts, you will join me in realizing why you do stuff (not just the obvious "prefer to be alone" things, but more subtle aspects of behavior) every time Cain throws out a new piece of research. Some of the evolutionary psych aspects of introversion are pretty fascinating, too.

(Review copy provided by publisher, obviously.)

Tidbit: Mysterious Bones

Mysterious Bones: The Story of Kennewick Man, Katherine Kirkpatrick. (Holiday House, 5/1/2011)

Lots of anthropology-nerd appeal here in this very balanced account of the saga of the human remains known as Kennewick Man. Kirkpatrick never sides with the scientists who wanted to study the remains or the local tribes who claimed him as an ancestor, but there's room to make an argument for either.

(Review copy provided by publisher.)

Tidbit: The Mighty Miss Malone

The Mighty Miss Malone, Christopher Paul Curtis. (Wendy Lamb, 1/10/2012)

If you know your children's books, I shouldn't have to say anything more than "Christopher Paul Curtis" to sell this one. But in case you're longing to be convinced: It's not a sequel to Bud, Not Buddy, but it is a companion book, filling in the story of one of the minor characters. And you will want to fight for Miss Deza Malone just as hard as she fights for herself. Curtis walks a fine line, considering his characters are dealing with both racial prejudice and the Great Depression, but Deza's world is never so bleak you can't imagine her succeeding.

(Review copy provided by publisher.)

Tidbit: The Many Faces of George Washington

The Many Faces of George Washington, Carla Killough McClafferty. (Carolrhoda, 4/2011)

Gilbert Stuart's portraits of George Washington have left most Americans with a definite image of the first president: austere, dignified, and forever elderly. The Many Faces of George Washington tells the story of the team of historians and artists who have given the world new images of the icon.

The book follow the team's creation of three life-size statues of Washington that show him as a young surveyor, the famous general, and the first president. To build the figures, the team relies on everything from existing images to 3D skeletal models -- and, as the book's copious photo illustrations make clear, lots of painstaking - though fascinating -- work.

(Review copy provided by publisher; text shamelessly cribbed from my Cybils blurb.)

Tidbit: Bigger than a Breadbox

Bigger than a Breadbox, Laurel Snyder. (Random House, 9/27/11)

This is not a review. It's totally an endorsement. And a biased one, because not only is Laurel a fabulous person¹, she's one of the few Twitter/blogging/online friends I've actually met.

That said: This is an excellent book. The story moves along, things are developing, there's all kinds of complexity -- and then there's a didn't-see-that-coming emotional punch at the end.²

(Advance copy provided by publisher.)

¹ Bonus points to everyone who caught the Troop Beverley Hills reference there.
² And I am not easily impressed by endings. Ask me sometime about The Usual Suspects.

Tidbit: How to Save a Life

How to Save a Life, Sara Zarr. (LBYR, 10/18/11)

Proof that you can write a damn good YA novel that clocks in below 300 pages.

And unlike some other books,¹ the flawed characters are ultimately endearing, not the kind that make you want to throw the book away and give up on them.

Somehow HTSAL even left me thinking good thoughts about a guy who wears eyeliner (but don't get any ideas).

(Review copy provided by publisher)

¹ I will not name names. I will not name names.

Tidbit: The Maid

The Maid, Kimberly Cutter. (HMH, 10/18/2011)

This is a book about Joan of Arc -- fair to say it's a story that's been done before, just a few times. I went into it knowing how things were going to turn out. So when I tell you that I was so engrossed in the last third of The Maid that I forgot I was supposed to be looking for Colleen and made her go searching all over the museum grounds for me, you get what I'm saying, no?

Knowing that Joan was going to win her big battle, knowing that the Dauphin was totally going to abandon her, knowing the outcome of the trial, I still had to find out how Cutter's version of it was going to happen.

(Advance copy provided by publisher)

New feature: tidbits

After months of telling people that I don't review new releases here, I'm suddenly a bookseller again. Which means I need to read a lot of new releases, and have something intelligent to say about them.

And it's way easier to do that here at Archimedes Forgets than keeping track of everything myself.

But the thing is, I don't review because I'm bad at it. I can do a passable job of telling you why to read something I like, but I'm just no good at analyzing why it works, or anything like that. And I can assure you that phrases like "luminous prose" are not going to start popping up here.

So I think it's time for a new feature here: tidbits. Consider them virtual shelftalkers, if you like; you might see some of them appearing on paper at the bookstore.